Blog

You get to choose what you don’t have time for
The executive team sits around the board table. (The sounds like the set up for a joke, doesn’t it??? It’s not – it’s a common situation.) So again… The executive team sits around the board table. All agree that the pressure feels unrelenting, and the additional...

Holidays, COVID, loss of a friend. Welcome to 2022!
Welcome to 2022! My hope is that you have had a refreshing break over the summer period. My year started brilliantly with a 3-week family holiday in Tasmania – food, art, mountains, beaches… Wonderful… Closely followed by the whole family getting COVID (being double...

My 5 Christmas Wishes for You 2021
Christmas is traditionally a time of giving, and as we approach the end of another challenging year, I have gathered together five special gifts for your Christmas stocking. I hope you enjoy them, and are inspired to share them with your colleagues, friends and...

How Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year relates to leadership
Cambridge Dictionary’s word of 2021 is - drum roll please - perseverance. Not for the reasons you may be thinking… It’s not COVID related, although it could be… The high number of dictionary searches related to NASA’s Perseverance Rover which landed on Mars 18...

How courageous is the leadership team you are part of?
Of the 7 dimensions of a Fearless Leadership Team, ‘courage’ is that one that executives typically self-rate the lowest. My executive team always makes courageous leadership decisions. YES / NO If I was to ask you that question, how would you respond? What would your...

Say ‘no’ to keep resentment out of the leadership team
When was the last time you said ‘yes’ to something, when you really wanted to say no? Maybe you didn’t have time to take it on, perhaps the project better fitted with someone else’s portfolio, maybe it was something you just don’t like doing…. And yet you heard...

Are you doing the work of the CEO?
‘I’m quite happy to do it.’ And she was. Bree cares about her people and is very conscious of not overloading her executive team. She is happy to do things herself, despite her big workload load and the fact that she isn’t able to get onto the more strategic things on...

What is the feedback you least want to hear?
What’s the feedback you hope your manager doesn’t give you? This is a question I ask people in my Fearless Conversations program. They identify specific feedback they hope the never hear, and then in small groups someone says that to them and the person practices...
3 Golden Guidelines for Asking for Feedback Fearlessly
A fearless conversation is an essential conversation that builds trust and moves us forward. It might be about a project, flexible working, future career plans, resetting a relationship, offering feedback upwards, asking for what you need… The list is endless. One...

Would you rather?
Kids often play a game ‘Would you rather?’ It goes like this - usually accompanied by squeals of disgust and laughter: Would you rather have a big spider on your face or a slimey frog? Would you rather eat ants or dog poo? Would you rather break your arm or your leg?...